


Zombie Run

by OptimisticBeth



Series: Holiday Collection [1]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Fluff, Halloween, High School, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-31
Updated: 2018-10-31
Packaged: 2019-08-11 10:27:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16473809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OptimisticBeth/pseuds/OptimisticBeth
Summary: During a charity run, Rey is relentlessly pursued.





	Zombie Run

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Halloween.

Rey could not get this fucker off her tail. He seemed vaguely familiar, though the rotting flesh, torn clothes, and bloody limbs all made it hard to tell.

She didn’t know if zombies were supposed to harass specific runners — she thought they were supposed to stay in designated areas and get people as they passed — but this fucking asshole kept taking shortcuts to get ahead of her.

The zombie run was a school fundraiser the student council had agreed on, scheduled near Halloween but carefully not branded as a Halloween event. Rey wished she’d had a chance to see the zombie volunteers before they’d gone through makeup so she could place this guy. Some of the volunteers were family members of students, and it creeped her out to think that this might be somebody’s dad or uncle.

She glanced back and found him gone, then rounded a bend and had half a second to decide which way to dodge around the tall, dark-haired zombie planted in the middle of her path.

“Fuck,” she muttered, edging to one side and watching how his body rotated, attention locked on the last remaining flag on her belt. If she tried to pass him, he’d lunge for it, so the sensible thing would be to pass on the right, with her flag as far from him as she could get.

Rey feinted right and dodged left, but he managed to turn and grab the sleeve of her unzipped hoodie, yanking it half off her arm and sending her to the ground.

“Ah!” she cried, automatically reaching for her ankle.

“Shit,” said the zombie, snapping out of his role. He crouched in the dirt beside her as she made small pained whimpers.

He was _much_ bigger than she’d realized, and now that she could see his face up close she could place him. She didn’t know his name, but he was in Poe’s grade and towered a head above most of the other kids at school. He ate lunch with some kids Finn hated, though she only knew the girl’s name, Phasma.

She rarely saw him wearing anything other than solid black, which was what had thrown her. He’d gone with dirty, ripped-knee jeans and a torn white t-shirt for the run.

“Are you okay?” he asked, his brown eyes concerned.

At the sound of approaching runners, Rey glanced past him back the way she’d come. He turned to look as well, still crouching.

Rey got her feet under her and shoved at his shoulders, unbalancing him and toppling him back. She hopped up and began to jog backwards, offering him a cocky salute and a “See ya!” before turning around and continuing the marathon.

The sight of his stunned expression would feed her soul for a _long_ time.

Unfortunately, her little trick only seemed to fuel his desire for her last flag. As she raced along the woodsy trail, she wondered if he’d been holding back before. He didn’t bother to find shortcuts now, racing full-tilt after her as she flew nimbly over the packed earth. Adrenaline pumped through her, and she found herself grinning as the wind whipped by.

He was too fast. Rey found herself dodging his hands as he went for her flag, though the lunge slowed him down long enough for her to regain her lead. She felt a brief moment of triumph, but it wasn’t long before he got close enough to grab her and lift her from her feet. Rey shrieked and felt him tug her final flag from her belt.

He set her down against a tree and rested his forearm above her so he could loom, both of them trying to catch their breath as their eyes locked. His makeup was much more obvious this close, and she couldn’t stop smiling.

“Go out with me,” he panted.

Maybe it was the adrenaline, maybe it was the primal feeling of being chased and caught, or maybe it was the memory that he was actually kind of cute without the grey face paint and fake blood. Maybe it was the way his eyes had looked when he thought she’d been hurt, or the way they’d flashed in response to her challenge when she’d tricked him.

Maybe it was _all_ of those things which prompted Rey to say, “Yeah, okay.”

They heard more runners — not upon them yet, but getting closer — so they broke away from each other and started walking side-by-side down the path.

“So is this how you normally ask girls out?” Rey asked, trying to tuck hair behind her ear even though it was all bound back in a ponytail. She shucked her hoodie and tied it around her waist. “Chasing them through the woods until they give in?”

He stuffed his zombified hands into the pockets of his jeans and ducked his head. “I don’t actually ask girls out that often.”

“Oh,” she said, nudging to the side so some other runners could pass, then falling back into step with her zombie admirer. “Why me, then?”

He shrugged. “You’re always with that Finn kid, and Phasma’s always _complaining_ about that Finn kid, so you were in my line of sight and I just kind of… noticed you.” He shot her a nervous look and swallowed.

“So you chased me through the woods.” She tossed him a smirk to show that she was teasing.

He grimaced. “Not the best call, was it?”

“I don’t know,” she said, considering. “It was kinda fun.”

He looked like he was trying to choose his words, and then he smiled and said, “Yeah. It was.”

Moaning came from their left, and her zombie waved a couple of his compatriots back into the forest. “Already ate this one’s brains,” he told them.

“Cool, man,” one of the other zombies said, and the small group returned to their starting position.

Rey waited until they’d walked a few yards, trees obscuring the other zombies from view, before she stopped and started to stretch. “Okay,” she said, grabbing her elbow with the opposite hand and pulling it behind her head. “First one to the finish line gets to pick the venue.”

She counted down, and he scrambled to position himself for the race.

He was ahead most of the way, so Rey didn’t think he _let_ her win. She was reasonably confident that he was trying to beat her, but she had done a few half-marathons before, and he clearly hadn’t, burning himself out fast. She knew to set an easier pace until the end where she picked her feet up and _sprinted_ just as he was slowing down.

She beat him, even with his longer stride, and the event coordinator approached as Rey bent over to catch her breath.

“Hey,” the coordinator said, scowling at the zombie. “What are you doing out of position?”

Rey’s zombie was silent for a moment, then held up a handful of flags. He must have grabbed them off of the people they’d passed, because he hadn’t had that many when she’d first noticed him following her. In a perfectly serious tone, he told the event coordinator, “I’ve eaten too many brains. I’m full.”

Rey snorted, and the coordinator looked over at her. Rey shrugged, pulling an arm across her chest to stretch her shoulder.

The coordinator snatched the flags from Rey’s zombie and marched irritably away.

“There’s a haunted house on Chandrila Drive," Rey said. “You free tonight?”

“Yeah,” he said, eyes wide as they moved aside for more runners to cross the finish line.

Rey grabbed a pen from the volunteer table and wrote her number on his forearm, where there wasn’t any fake blood to get in the way. “I’ll meet you there at ten. Text me if you can’t make it.”

He tilted his head to one side, his lips parted. It made him look decidedly zombie-esque. “Yeah. Yeah, okay.”

Rey walked away, feeling good, and when she got to the parking lot, she glanced back. Her zombie was standing exactly where she’d left him, watching her with an adorably dumbfounded expression.

She realized, as she started her car, that she hadn’t even gotten his name.


End file.
